On June 30, 2022, the Inception stage meeting of the “Strengthened Community Resilience through Energy Efficiency and Low Emission Development” project was held. The project is funded by the Government of Sweden, with Swedish International Development agency (Sida) as leading partner and is  implemented locally by UNDP in Armenia.

The objective of the meeting was to introduce the progress and outcomes of the project’s Inception phase activities and decide on the full-fledge project unfolding with project Advisory Board.

Mr. Vache Terteryan, the Deputy Minister, Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure, welcomed the participants of the event.

 “When the country started to think about energy efficiency, this kind of projects were considered inapproachable. However, we currently are fully engaged in understanding of the importance and the benefits of energy efficiency projects. The main challenge here is the central role of the beneficiary community: we must make the trend scalable and accessible through educating people so that they feel the linkage between the commitments of country under Paris Agreement and needs and actions in their communities”, mentioned Mr. Terteryan, thanking UNDP and Sida for continuous partnership with great impact.

Sasun Khechumyan, Head of Alaverdi Community, thanked UNDP and the Ministries for keeping Alaverdi in the focus of the interventions.

“Alaverdi has a unique history from an industrial giant to a community with high level of poverty. It is currently a touristic destination and considering the number of sunny days within the year, the community will benefit from the solar installations. Another advantage is that Alaverdi proposal is included in the State subvention program for 2022 that will also magnify the project impact”, said  Mr. Khechumyan.

Mr. Hovhannes Ghazaryan, UDNP Climate, Environment, Resilience Portfolio Analyst, highly appreciated the role of the partnering Ministries, the Lori governor’s office and the Alaverdi Municipality for actively assuming the responsibility to support the project related activities and for continuous partnership spirit.

“The project dwells on the energy efficiency and the renewable energy use best practices implemented so far in Armenia and will allow for energy and monetary savings in Alaverdi consolidated community that can be channeled for supporting the needs of the community vulnerable groups”, concluded Mr. Ghazaryan.

Mr. Tomas Nystrom, Programme Senior Officer, Swedish International Development Agency, thanked UNDP in Armenia and the head of Alaverdi municipality for an excellent start of the project, as well as the perfect organization of the field trip to Alaverdi on July 4-5 to visit the sites that will be targeted in the project implementation.

“It is important for Sida to join efforts with the experts on the ground, and it is a privilege for Sida to launch the project with UNDP and partnering with national authorities and local administrations”, mentioned Mr. Nystrom.

Ms. Diana Harutyunyan, UNDP Climate Change Programme Coordinator, thanked the project Advisory Board for their active involvement with the project activities and presented the Inception Phase results achieved during the five months’ research and mapping in Alaverdi community.

The results of the 150 households’ survey and the focus groups discussions provided good background to further tailor the project activities. The Market System Analysis (MSA) and the Multi-dimensional poverty analysis were conducted for the community to reveal the community’s main challenges and seek for the most effective interventions for the vulnerable groups. Due to State Subvention Program for energy efficient retrofitting 10 panel multi-apartment buildings was ensured. Besides an agreement was reached to establish: (i) energy management system in the community for monitoring and assessment of benefits of low carbon development; and (ii) community managed savings/investment fund for continuity and sustainability of results.

Furthermore, agreement was reached among the parties of the meeting on ministries’ readyness to support the project with means available, the finalization of the full-fledged project document designed by UNDP and circulated for comments, and the project Advisory Board will convey its next meeting in 6 months period to review the project progress.

The Project will contribute to the affordability of green energy solutions and ensure pathing the good practices for low carbon development of the demonstration community. It is also unique initiative in terms of conducting a Market System Analysis prior to the full-fledged project to make the green energy solutions accessible for the vulnerable groups.

Event Agenda and Presenatations are available HERE